Wallasey's Johnny Jones, pulled out all the stops in the junior final of the Cheshire mile at the County athletic championships held at Lingham Track last Saturday, when before a good crowd, he put in a fighting finish to snatch the gold medal in a personal-best performance of 4 mins. 34 secs.
In doing so, he pushed N. Tarry (Warrington) and clubmate Dave Lockley into the minor placings.
Lockley was not at his best on the day and could manage only 4:39.5 way below his best but had he been in top form, he would still have found Jones a hard 'nut' to crack on Saturday.
Senior miler Barrie Smith was 'dragged through' a first lap in 61 seconds and although he hung on for a further half-mile he found the final quarter a bit fast and finished 5th in 4:32.
Melvin Schless in the youths' equivalent allowed two opponents in the third lap to open up a gap which he could not close and he took third place with 4:40.9.
In the boys' mile, Bob Brimage took 5:17 and is obviously capable of better, as he had run in the half-mile earlier.
The same can be said of Alan Keating, who although running a best 54.5 in the senior 440 yards for a 5th placing, probably sacrificed a medal in the 880, which was won in a mediocre 2 mins. 0.9 secs. by 4-minute mile Brian Hall of Manchester.
In the same event Doug Hanna seemed to have the bronze award in his grasp when he was caught on the line in 2:04.7, whilst Peter Lewis led for 660 yards in the youths 880 before he was passed by two runners and finished 3rd in 2:12.9.
New member Bob Warburton ran a well judged race to win the boys 880 yards. He slipped into top gear 200 yards from home and won easily in 2:18.9 with the busy McGregor 3rd in 2:26.8.
Another personal-best came from Ian Wilson in the youths' 440 when he all but caught the winner, Vernon (mid Cheshire) in 52.8 and showed that he is ready for a sub-52 quarter any time now.
Club captain John Morley made a welcome return to racing after a long, enforced lay off and took the bronze medal in the senior 440 in 53.9, a similar placing to young Peter Watson, who was timed at 12.7 in the boys' 100 yards! A notable contribution to the meeting was made by Wallasey's field event specialists, who were all placed in their chosen events.
Eric Taylor's 163 ft. 9 ins. In the junior javelin was made with the senior implement, and would have been good enough to win the senior event. As it was, he placed second, one position higher than Alan Todd, who had a best in the junior triple jump of 40 ft. 4½ ins., Brian McGrath 5 ft. 6 ins. High jump and Terry Leach, who threw 110 ft. with the youths' discus.
All-rounder Phyllis Edwards and cross-country specialist Pat Robertson took part in the Women's Northern Counties Championship at Blackburn last Saturday. Although not placed in her heat of the senior 440 yards, Phyllis recorded a very good 61.8 secs. for a personal best performance whilst Pat who is a first-year intermediate ran a 2:43.9 half mile.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 10/06/1967
Ref 1435